A DECORATED soldier who arranged to meet a teenage girl he met online for sex has been jailed following a sting operation by a fellow serviceman who posed as the 15-year-old.

Private Nicholas Mathews, 28, continued to chat with ‘Ellie’ after she revealed she was 15 on dating app Tinder and sent an array of crude sexual messages to her, including asking ‘what underwear are you going to wear when we meet?’

Private Nicholas Mathews,pictured, has been jailed following a army sting operation

‘Ellie’ was invented by rifleman Daniel Sutor, who set out to catch paedophiles by starting the ‘Vigilante Nonce Hunting Group’, having been inspired by Channel 4 documentary ‘The Paedophile Hunter’.

A court martial heard that Mathews, who was 27 at the time, asked if she was going to perform a sex act on him and even told her ‘not to brag about having sex as he could get in a lot of trouble.’

However when Mathews arrived at a car park in Durrington, Wilts, where they planned to meet, he was greeted by a large crowd of soldiers who hurled abuse at him, charged at his car and even threw eggs and flour at it.

The court heard Mathews, who coincidentally turned out to work on the same base as the soldiers – Picton Barracks in Bulford, Wilts – was caught after the riflemen who egged his car were reported for their behaviour.

When the soldiers were investigated they revealed the sting operation and Mathews was then officially investigated.

Disgraced Mathews was dismissed from the army and jailed for 14 months at Bulford Military Court, Wilts, as the court heard he has been awarded medals in Cyprus and Afghanistan.

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Mathews, who admitted one count of attempting to meet a child for sex following grooming, met Ellie on Tinder and then ‘took the initiative of getting her on a more anonymous site’, messaging service Kik.

Prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Graham Coombes said Ellie’s account was originally listed 18, to meet Tinder’s requirements, but soon after they ‘matched’ she revealed she was 15 and asked if it was a problem.

Lt Col Coombes said: “It started when a rifleman in the local area set up social media accounts for a fictitious girl with the intent on catching men who attempt to meet young girls.

“The group the rifleman set up was the ‘Vigilante Nonce Hunting Group.’ He used a friend’s sister’s picture for the social media accounts of the girl, named Ellie.

“On dating sites Ellie’s age was listed as 18 as that is the minimum age on them. This was based on a Channel 4 documentary where a vigilante catches paedophiles.